When Paige accidentally uses her abilities and kills someone, she is sent to a voyant prison which is controlled by creatures called Rephaim who want to use the voyants abilities for their own gain. Paige, and other types of clairvoyants, commit a crime just by existing. The plot follows Paige who is a dreamwalker in the year 2059. It wasn't smoothly incorporated into the story. Huge chunks of this novel are dedicated to info-dumping and the execution of these sections feels really awkward, like a movie cutting off in the middle to bring up a page of text that gives you some background information. Particularly in the beginning it felt almost as if the protagonist (Paige) was reading me a textbook on the world, people's abilities and Floxy (flavoured oxygen). Plus, there is so much tell and so little show. This first book felt soooo long because it was so fleshed out with lengthy descriptions and seemingly pointless information.
There are apparently seven books in this series and I'm betting only three or four will really be needed.
What this is, for me, is an example of taking light, easily digestible fantasy fiction that is filled with uncomplicated excitement and romance, and turning it into something long-winded and overly descriptive just so you can attempt to call it original. She stirs it in a pot with a bunch of new names for old things ("voyants" for those with clairvoyance, amongst other new terms), slang that left my head spinning even though myself and the author are British (I ended up having to consult my Welsh friend), and world-building that sounds unique and complex because of the fancy terms floating around. The author takes this familiar story and, basically, complicates it. The Bone Season is a story I feel like I've read before in various other fantasy-lite novels - the one that first came to mind being Shadow and Bone. In my opinion, it shows definite potential for Shannon's future as a writer but the story is a regurgitated version of one that has been told countless times. However, I just didn't think The Bone Season was anything special or original. I really wanted her debut to take me out of this world and leave me desperate to get my hands on the next installment. I really wanted Shannon to be the next J.K.Rowling, as some are calling her. It sounds stupid but I actually feel slightly guilty at how disappointed I was with it and I think the main reason is because the author is a British student of the same age as me and, as soon as I learned that, I really wanted her to succeed. I really, really wanted to like this book.
0 kommentar(er)
